State of Mind
by melissaeverlasting
Summary: Next Generation Story! When Lily Luna Potter, desperate to perform magic, accidentally gains the ability to read minds, she finds it cool until learning something about her brother James that may either strengthen their relationship or destroy it.
1. So Strange

**01. So Strange**

* * *

"You're _joking_."

"I'm not. Why would I kid about something like this?"

Lily Potter's mouth fell open and hung there for a few seconds. The ten-year-old's dark red hair spilled out from underneath a Holyhead Harpies cap and her slender body was stretched out upon the bed of her brother James, who was grinning at her with that mysterious twinkle in his eye that Lily knew altogether much too well.

"You going to believe me or not?" he asked, looking more suspiciously pleased than ever.

"But -- well -- I mean... this is ridiculous! How do I know it's not some sort of trick you're playing on me?" Lily was getting rather tired of being her older brother's plaything. Ever since the thirteen-year-old had arrived home from Hogwarts for the summer holidays his sister could tell he was bored, so she had volunteered to play with him to cheer him up. She soon learned, however, that a ten-year-old's idea of 'playing' was very different than that of a teenager's and had stopped paying special attention to him. She wasn't one to be pushed around, anyway. But James was still intent on selling her on this... idea?

And now here he stood, staring down at Lily as though mocking her disbelief: her mouth had fallen open again as she thought over what James had said.

"Your mouth is going to freeze like that," he said with a smirk. "And you'll never be able to talk again. And while that _would_ be a blessing, you really need to answer me."

With that Lily found her voice and, after glaring at her brother, said, "It would be lovely... if it were true! You don't honestly expect me to believe that I can do magic early? I thought it was impossible!"

"Well, so did I, but you learn something new every day," he lowered his voice and spoke with even more enthusiasm, "and besides, where's the harm? I've been itching to see your magic for some time now, you know. Al's no match for me, but as for you... well, you never know."

"I'd love to use magic, you know that! But Daddy said there's a law against it if you're underage or on holiday from school!"

"Please, you think I didn't know that? You surprise me sometimes, Lily. I've been told by some... friends... that there's a way around it! It's in one of these objects over here..." He indicated the few objects on his dresser drawer: a Chocolate Frog card, a tiny glass ball, and a paper cup full of something that looked like water.

"That's a cup of water, James, and you're wasting my time!" Lily exclaimed angrily as she stood up and accidentally knocked over the cup, spilling the liquid all over her bare foot. Lily took no notice as she continued to storm out of the room.

Before she could exit, however, James said in a calm voice, "Look, Lily, I'm not tricking you. I know how badly you've been wanting to use magic so I'm giving you a chance to try it! If you don't want to then that's fine, but if I were you I wouldn't fancy waiting a year, either."

That turned Lily around. _A year!_ she thought, _I don't think I'll be able to stand another year of everybody performing magic except for me..._

Her facial expression must have reflected her thoughts, as James said, "I know that look. Meet me back here after dinner and… be prepared," he added in a spooky voice. Lily rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the smile that crept up on her face as she turned her back on James and exited the room.

* * *

"Can I be excused?" Lily asked her mother. She had barely touched her food, quivering with excitement at the prospect of performing magic.

"You haven't eaten anything," her mother, Ginny, replied.

"I know, I'm... not hungry," said Lily, trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"Yeah, big lunch, you know," James backed her up.

"We had an apple," said Albus, Lily's other brother, in a suspicious tone.

Lily silently scolded him for ruining their elaborate plan... until she noticed that her parents weren't quite buying it, either.

"He's right, and what's up with you..." her father, Harry, indicated James, "sticking up for your sister? Something's out of place."

"Don't complain," said Ginny. "It's a rare sight to see a brother and sister getting along." She smiled at her daughter, and James seemed to take it as a good sign.

"Yeah, we're... bonding," he replied, struggling to keep a straight face. This proved much tougher when Lily burst into a spontaneous fit of giggles. She immediately clapped a hand to her mouth, but by that time James had begun laughing as well.

"Strange," said Ginny. "Usually all James's jokes provoke is groaning and eye-rolling."

Harry and Albus both chuckled at this, and soon everyone was beside themselves with laughter. It was one of those very odd moments that you enjoy immensely but can never recall the causes of. When everyone had finished, Lily remembered her upcoming adventure with James and felt even happier: she was practically glowing.

"Hey, Lily, your foot is wet," Albus told her, regaining his breath and composure.

"Still?" asked James.

"What do you mean?" Lily questioned. "I never spilled anything on my foot."

"Yes you did," said James. "You spilled the cup of... er... water. It, um -- must have sort of stuck or something."

"How long ago was it?" asked Albus, who was always curious.

"I dunno, thirty minutes or so," came James's uncertain reply.

"And what did you spill, exactly?" Harry chimed in immediately; as an Auror, it was sort of second nature to him to question anything that looked suspicious... but, moreover, he had been a father for thirteen years and counting.

"I don't know," Lily told him. "I don't remember spilling anything. I can't feel wetness or anything, either, but my foot looks wet." She frowned at the situation. "Strange."

"You know, that could've been where the neighbor's killer do--" Albus began speaking, but Lily cut him off angrily.

"Oh, shut up, Albus! There was no killer dog! It was just another rubbish story of James's, and you're stupid to believe it!"

She had no idea where this rage was coming from. Albus looked as though he may cry; being home from Hogwarts was making him act exceedingly vulnerable at strange times.

For a while all Lily witnessed was her father scolding her, James sniggering slightly, and Albus making whiny complaints of Lily's behavior towards him... and then...

And then something impressively odd happened. A force seemed to be guiding Lily in everything she did, as though she no longer had control. She closed her eyes and laid her head down on the cool tabletop and thoughts swirled around in her head... literally. Lily couldn't detect what they were but somehow she felt them, turning in every which way at a rapid pace that made her feel sick and dizzy.

One blurry thought cleared up in her head... a single word...

_Wimp._

It went as quickly as it had come, but Lily was visibly shaken... what had just happened?

The oddest part was that no one in the family seemed to have noticed. Her mum had gone into the other room to fetch dessert while Harry spoke to Albus and James attacked the last bit of chicken on his plate, eyes on his food.

Lily, however, could not think about chicken or even the delicious treacle tart her mother would soon be bringing out. Something had happened.

And she was determined to find out what.


	2. James's Room

**02. James's Room**

* * *

"Alright, so we'll need a plan."

"Well, yeah, of course," said James, looking worried. Lily felt a strange rush of affection towards her brother. Was it possible he was worried about her safety? "I mean, Mum'd kill me if that water-like stuff had stained the carpet..."

_Well, that's one caring brother_, thought Lily, smirking.

"Oh, honestly, James, get with it! I lost control earlier, I was being -- guided, or something weird like that!"

"Be a bit more vague, won't you?" James looked irritated, but it strangely turned to embarassment, rather abruptly. "Oh, it doesn't matter, I just -- I just thought -- or I, er, heard that, um -- "

And it happened again. Lily was sitting straight up, eyes vacant and mind on overdrive. But this time, she could make out most of the thoughts rolling around her head...

_...Been joking... won't... her... Allison... completely took the mickey... all I am to him..._

James had, by this time, noticed Lily's vacancy and had run over to where she sat in his desk chair, shaking her. On the way there he knocked into his table. Wincing slightly and swearing loudly, James took no notice of the glass ball crashing to the floor, despite the loud sound it made. Lily's head cleared immediately as the ball crashed onto the floor, crystals that looked as if they were reflecting light shattering everywhere.

A moment later, Ginny was at the door.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"I don't know, I s'pose we knocked that ball thing over," said James, keeping his cool as he usually did. "No problem."

"All right, if you're sure... I suppose I trust you. Lily?" Ginny turned her attention to her youngest child.

"Mum!" James was indignant.

"I'm only just verifying, James. Lily?" she asked again.

"That's what happened," Lily replied absently, still a bit dazed at the come-and-go thoughts that were not her own.

"OK, now I'll believe it," said Ginny, smiling. "And James, did I hear you swear? You've got to stop hanging around Ron so much... anyway, time for bed soon, OK?"

"Sure," Lily agreed automatically, glad for a chance to be alone and ponder the day's events. She didn't even care about 'bonding' with James anymore. "Good night." She gave her mother a hug and asked, "Where's Dad?"

"Good night, lovely! He's downstairs, you can go on down. But then, bed!" she said firmly, reminding Lily surprisingly of her grandmother.

Obviously Ginny noticed this, because she said, "I know what you're thinking. I swear I get more like her with every day! Bit scary."

As she laughed and left the room, Lily privately agreed -- she loved her grandmother, but did not much like the idea of living with a replica of her... she enjoyed having a laid-back mother, without quite such a tendency to scold!

Entering the main room, she found her father, reading Ginny's latest Daily Prophet article at the table. He looked up and smiled as he heard her approach.

"Hey, Lily," he said, indicating for her to sit next to him.

She did so and said, "Hi, Daddy." Lily secretly enjoyed the feeling of being the baby of the family, even though she hid it around her brothers.

"So what's up? Bedtime soon, right?"

"I've just come to say goodnight," she replied. "Mummy's sending me to bed afterwards."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, she would. So, anything on your mind? You seemed a bit distracted earlier today."

"I wasn't," Lily replied softly, not quite ready to share her problem yet. But there was one thing she had to ask. "Er... Dad? Um, have you ever heard of, uh... well, doing magic early? Like, at my age?" She smiled timidly, awaiting his answer.

"Well, we all demonstrate magic ability early, it makes us sure that we're wizards. But as for concious magic that you know how to do, that's against the law. We'd get fined. And with your aunt at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, that just might look bad." He winked and smiled.

"It is possible, though?" Lily felt immediately brighter at the thought.

"Well, yeah. Of course. If you've got the ability, there's really no starting age. It's the law that makes that official," said Harry, looking curious. "Why did you want to know?"

"No reason," she replied quickly and, she was sure, rather suspiciously. She really wanted to know whether what she was feeling -- the sudden, cloudy discernment of others' thoughts -- could be magic. If it could, she definitely wouldn't mind it in the least. But something told her that her father probably shouldn't know about it. "Just... wondering."

"If you're sure," her dad replied, looking utterly unconvinced. "I mean, I know how much you'd like to do magic, Lily, but you'll be going to Hogwarts soon enough. You've got to be patient, like everyone else. I used to get pretty anxious as well."

"Yeah," said Lily, now entering full-blown excitement. "I've got it. Have a good night, Dad." She gave him a quick hug and jumped off to climb the stairs to her room, nearly skipping the entire way.


	3. I Couldn't Help But Overhear You

**03. I Couldn't Help But Overhear You... Thinking?**

* * *

Lily awoke next morning to golden sunlight streaming in through her window, slightly blinding but pretty all the same. Squinting a bit and covering her eyes, she pushed back her covers, got up, and walked over to where her calendar hung on the wall opposite her bed. When she arrived there, she picked up a red marker that her grandfather had given her and crossed off another square, meaning it was one less day until she would board the Hogwarts Express.

When she had finished, she entered the hall and sighed when she saw that James, Albus, and her father were still asleep. Figuring her mum must be up, Lily made her way downstairs where, just as she had suspected, Ginny was standing in the kitchen making breakfast.

Lily had never told her, but she thought of her mother as the most wonderful person she knew. She was beautiful, with her straight, silky red hair and brown eyes. Lily's hair matched her mother's, but her eyes were a clear blue, like Ginny's brother Ron's were. Still, Lily was almost a miniature of her mother, and when she thought about how kind, brave, and caring she was, Lily hoped that would always be true.

"Good morning," she finally said.

Ginny whipped around at the sound of Lily's voice and grinned. "Good morning, sweetheart! I suppose your brothers are still sleeping, are they?"

"Yeah. Was it like this when you were growing up, with your brothers?"

She smiled a reminiscent smile and replied, "Oh yeah. Except I had about three times as many brothers as you've got, Lily, so count your blessings." She and Lily both laughed. "Anyway, are eggs and bacon all right for breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Good, because we are going to have company today," Ginny announced, cracking an egg into a bowl and flicking her wand to mix it in.

"Hugo?" Lily asked excitedly. Hugo was her favorite cousin, so fun-loving and energetic. He was the same age as her, and his hair and eyes were brown. They both couldn't wait to set foot in Hogwarts castle.

"Yes, and Rose," Ginny confirmed. "Your aunt's got to go in earlier today so I've agreed to watch them while their parents are at work. I've got good reason to think that Teddy may be dropping in also," she added, smiling. "Or at least, his words of 'Hey, I'll be dropping in' gave me nice false hope. Anyway, I'll watch you guys, you can play Quidditch or whatever, and then around three, when your father gets home, we'll all go eat somewhere in Diagon Alley."

Lily grinned. This was shaping up to be a fantastic day. She could beat everyone at Quidditch (she was an exceptional player, if only, as James said, "for a girl"), see her cousins and Teddy (whom she loved as a cousin), and, when things died down, ask Hugo about her mystery.

"Mummy, can I wake James and Albus and Dad? They shouldn't sleep through breakfast," Lily stated.

"Sure, Lily, I'd appreciate it. Tell them to dress quickly, too, and if you can't get them out of bed, tell them who's coming, that should get them moving. Besides, your father's got to go to work," Ginny said.

Lily agreed, skipped up the steps to yell at her brothers and gently shake her father awake, and within 15 minutes they were all sitting around the table, waiting for their cousins.

Lily looked at James as she waited, wondering what was on his mind. She began to stare at him, penetratingly, and suddenly...

... she could hear James's thoughts. It felt like it had the previous day; both times her mind had been wiped clean and presented with another's thoughts. Except this time, the thoughts were perfectly clear, not just shown in bits and pieces.

_Teddy's coming... oh, God, I've got to figure this out... Tricking my little sister is one thing, but killing her..._

"_KILLING_ me?!" Lily exclaimed, shocked at what she had just heard, and the fact that she had read someone's thoughts.

"What?" James looked perplexed. "How did you..."

At the exact moment James's astonished face morphed into one of recognition and disbelief, there was a loud knock on the door.

Rather than jumping up to greet her cousins as she normally did, Lily retained her position, mystified by what had just happened.

She heard her mum say, "Oh, it's no problem" and her aunt reply, "Thank you so much, I really appreciate this! Oh, I've got to run... have fun!" but none of it registered or mattered.

A few minutes later, Hugo's cheerful voice shattered Lily's thoughts. She looked at her cousin's happy face. "Hi," she replied lifelessly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and Lily sighed. Hugo knew her better than anybody; of course he would recognize her feelings!

"Fine, I'll tell you," she said. "James told me he knew a way to do magic early, and he showed me these objects, a cup of water, a Chocolate Frog card, and a glass ball. Anyway, when I was leaving his room, I spilled the -- well, I'm not sure it's actually water, and at dinner I could involuntarily read people's minds." She glanced back at her cousin and viewed his face as astounded.

"Whoa... reading minds... wicked!" he exclaimed.

"I suppose," Lily said, unsure, "but I haven't finished yet. Anyway, so when I was in James's room last night, he accidentally broke the glass ball, and now I can read minds anytime I want."

Hugo gasped. "You're kidding!"

"I'm not. I'll read yours right now if you want."

"Don't read my mind, Lily, I got your point," Hugo grumbled. "Let's talk about this later, and play Quidditch now. James and Teddy are already out there."

Lily agreed... for now.

She was beginning to think she could have a lot of fun with this...

* * *

For Quidditch, the kids divided themselves into two teams: Lily, Hugo, and Albus on one side, and Teddy, James, and Rose on the other. These were the teams they always played with; Lily (who had inherited her parents' fantastic Quidditch ability; she even played Seeker, like her father had) and Teddy were great, James and Hugo were good (although James considered himself better than everyone), and Rose and Albus were both awful, so it was fair. They even made up for their too-small teams by having their best players take multiple positions.

They played four short games (Lily's Team--3; Teddy's Team--1) before getting tired and going inside, where Ginny served them lunch. As they were eating, Lily amused herself by shooting random glances at Hugo, widening her eyes and pretending to read his mind. He scowled each time, but it always got a giggle out of her.

When lunch was over, the group split into twos, as they often did. Rose and Albus went into his room, probably to engage in intelligent conversation or discuss a book or something; James and Teddy headed outside; and Lily ushered Hugo into her room so that they could talk a bit more.

"So," Hugo said, leaning back in Lily's wooden desk chair, "what you're saying is that you can read minds. And... if you don't keep giving me that annoying look, at least, I don't really see a problem. "

Lily groaned. "Hugo! I'm obviously not _supposed_ to be able to read minds!"

"I guess not." He grinned. "But still, it's cool... as long as you don't use it on me."

"Well..." Lily couldn't help it. She grinned too.

* * *

When Lily heard her father walk in, she ran and gave him a hug. She'd had a _great_ day teasing Hugo, and was eager to see her aunt and uncle for dinner.

"Hey, Lily!" her dad said, hugging her back. "How's it going, Hugo?"

Hugo gave his cheerful grin in response and said, "Good."

"Well, your parents will be here soon, and then we'll all go out and get dinner."

"Great," Lily said brightly. "I can't wait to try this out on James..." she muttered to Hugo, who laughed and nodded. "Come on..."

And they went back upstairs to scheme.


	4. Better and Better

**04. Better and Better**

* * *

"So I told him, if this doesn't pass I'll..." The conversation at the dinner table had turned boring, so Lily nudged Hugo and looked directly at James.

This time it didn't even take a moment for the thoughts to clear up; Lily could just automatically discern her brother thinking:

_I've got to find some way to prove myself to him... I mean, even if Teddy only wants me as his plaything now, maybe I can change it... Not feel so lonely and rejected all of the time..._

Lily didn't even bother trying to cover up her gasp as she realized something about her brother James.

And the subject did not leave her thoughts the entire evening.

* * *

Finally it was time to say goodbye. Lily hugged her aunt and uncle and said, "See you" to Rose and Teddy, but pulled Hugo aside for a moment.

"Listen, I'm not sure I want to use this mind-reading thing. I mean, what if I get something really... embarrassing... and I can never look at the person the same way again?"

Hugo just looked at her. "Did you get something from James?" he asked.

Lily nodded, but said nothing else. Knowing Hugo, he probably only wanted to know so he could tease James about it.

* * *

After she had got ready for bed, Lily stood outside her brother's door, nervously pondering whether to go in or not.

Finally, she decided to do it.

"James?" she called from outside.

He walked to the door and saw his sister there, then said, "Good. You're here. I need to talk to you."

"So do I," Lily agreed wearily, entering and sitting down on James's bed. "So what first?" she asked just as wearily.

James just cut right to the point. "Can you read _minds_ now, Lily?" His tone was bordering on disgusted.

"I'm pretty sure," said Lily, "but it's too strange... James, was it your cup of water that did this to me?" James wasn't the only once who could get right to the point. Lily raised an eyebrow suspiciously to illustrate just how serious she was about this.

"It's not _mine_, OK?" Her brother sounded irritated.

"Then where did you get it?" Lily demanded back, every bit as irritated.

"A friend," James said evasively, rolling his eyes and sighing in exasperation. "But that's not the point! The thing is, you're not supposed to be able to do this, Lily!"

"I know this too," Lily said in an even tone she knew would aggravate her older brother. "And that's why it _does_ matter what those objects on your desk were. Let's see... the first time I was in your room, I spilled that -- I doubt it's water... the second time, you knocked down that glass ball, or whatever it was, and then I could read minds really clearly. Before I just got bits."

"Fine," agreed James after he had heard his sister out. "S'pose those objects were the problem. There's still got to be a way to reverse this. _Without_ Mum and Dad getting involved."

Lily and her brother thought for a moment, then looked at each other at the exact same time. "There was a third object!" Lily was first to say, grinning.

"Yeah... a Chocolate Frog card, right? I reckon I've got it over here..." And he got up and looked for it as Lily waited, thinking about how she felt about the whole event. It -- reading minds -- was strange; and confusing, when she thought about what she had heard from James; but also fun, when she remembered her day of teasing Hugo.

The memory brought a little smile to her face, but it quickly disappeared when she saw James empty-handed.

Lily glared. "_Tell_ me you haven't lost it," she began angrily, "or I'll--"

"It isn't lost," James interrupted. "I lent it to Teddy."

"Wh-- JAMES!" Lily shouted, furious. "He was the one you _got_ it from in the first place! Don't bother denying it, because I heard it in your thoughts!"

Lily thought she heard him mutter something in response like, "Worse than I thought..." but he said out loud, "Then we need to get it back from him, don't we? Come on!"

"What? Now? We can't go now!"

"Lily, there's... there's one more bit to this... you -- you can control minds too. You can get Mum and Dad to call the Knight Bus, and then convince the driver to take us to Teddy's house."

Lily simply stared at him. This just kept getting better and better, she decided sarcastically.


	5. Abnormality

**05. Abnormality**

* * *

"Here we are," Lily Potter whispered into the deep darkness around the house of Teddy Lupin and Andromeda Tonks.

It had been only an hour since James had suggested the idea, and since then Lily had used her powers both on her parents and the Knight Bus crew.

And now here they were.

"Well?" she continued. "Now what?"

"Now we put some of that Gryffindor bravery to the test," he whispered back, motioning for his sister to follow as he walked toward the doorway. Once there, he opened the door so quietly and nimbly that Lily felt her facial expression turn impressed, until she remembered she was angry with him for loaning Teddy the Chocolate Frog card and reverted back to petulance.

They entered silently, and Lily felt an odd sense of safety inside the familiar home. She shook it off, though, when she remembered what she and James were about to do, and instead shuddered.

"Come on, quieter," James urged, and Lily followed his lead.

When they had reached the stairs, Lily was going to ask James how they would get into Teddy's room, but shut her mouth immediately on remembering that it would probably be too loud. Instead, she sent the thought to her brother telepathically:

_How are we getting into Teddy's room?_

James's eyes widened a bit, then he thought back:

_Leave it to me._

Lily groaned. _Don't you know that if I hadn't left it you from the beginning, we wouldn't BE here in the first place?_

She got an irritating smile in response. _'Course I know. Anyway, there's a secret passage by the door -- cupboard, actually -- under the stairs. Teddy said he built it when he was grounded and couldn't see Victoire._ He wasn't grinning, as Lily had expected him to be, as he said this -- no, actually he sounded rather bitter.

_James..._ she thought nervously, _... what is it with you and Teddy? You're not nothing to him, you know that, he's --_

But her comfort was interrupted by a real noise, James tapping the staircase. "We've got a mission," he whispered shortly. Lily could sense that he was still angry, but she followed him into the secret door anyway.

Inside was dark and cold, and Lily had trouble finding her way to where her brother was. She could hear him (mentally) wishing he'd brought his wand, and then scolding himself for having left it on the train and let out a giggle, then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

Finally James had located the opening they would crawl through to get to Teddy's room. _Honestly, though_, Lily thought to James as she found her way to where he was standing, _how could you lose something as valuable as your wand? _James grimaced, as if weighing the pros and cons of hitting her.

_I'm going to ignore that_, he sent to his sister. _Alright, get up there. I'll push you in, then follow._

Lily, with some difficulty, managed to position herself at the front of what looked a little like a tunnel, except that you travelled up rather than down it. When she'd made it, James gave her a huge push and she flew up the tunnel and landed rather loudly in a room just like the one downstairs; there was a door, too, which Lily assumed you could enter Teddy's room from. She then went back to the front of the tunnel and waited for James to emerge from it.

Eventually Lily could see James coming into view and continued to wait. But she soon noticed that he wasn't moving, and asked him why telepathically.

_Design flaw_, he answered. _There's a groove in the part I'm in, and I got stuck. You didn't because you're small enough to avoid it. Oh, don't laugh -- help me!_

Lily gathered some of her brother's shirt and tugged, and when that didn't work was suddenly struck with an idea. Acting spontaneously, she took off the bracelet she'd got from her aunt last Christmas, unfastened the smallest charm, and placed it in the groove, managing to free James's shirt in the process. He came flying up the tunnel and landed next to his little sister.

The only bad thing was that Lily would have to leave her charm in the groove of the tunnel so that they could get back down. But she was okay -- it was her least favorite one, anyway, the one shaped like a book.

* * *

Lily and James entered Teddy's room very quietly, and began to feel a little panicked when the Chocolate Frog card seemed to be nowhere in sight.

When at least ten minutes had gone by and they still hadn't found it, James sent to Lily:

_Ask Teddy where it is._

_WHAT? Are you insane? He'll know we're here, James! And if you meant with my mind, as he's sleeping I don't see what good that'll do!_

_Just try! I know more about this then you do!_

Frustrated, Lily finally gave in, feeling ridiculous. _Um... Teddy? Where... er... where is the Chocolate Frog card James lent you?_

_Bottom of the second drawer_. The answer came so quickly and in such an un-Teddy-like voice that Lily was taken aback. Apparently this power was even weirder than she'd thought. She was finally beginning to feel like she really wanted it gone. She gave the thought to James and then asked Teddy, _How do we use it to get rid of the power?_

_Rip it in half_. The answer once again shocked Lily, but then again, it _had_ been quite an abnormal evening.


	6. Real Bonding This Time

**06. Real Bonding This Time**

* * *

Sitting in her brother's room, awash in the comfort of home, Lily still could not believe that they had made it.

She'd never had such an adventurous evening, or been so daring, and -- she had to admit, as she let out a yawn -- it really took a lot out of you.

James's voice broke through her exhaustion with "So... we got the card."

Lily rolled her eyes and giggled. "I remembered to ask Teddy what to do to reverse the spell."

James laughed. "It's not like I didn't know," he said, expectedly cocky. "Lily, you do the honors."

Lily, seeing right through her brother's act, grinned as she ripped the Chocolate Frog card in half.

"Now try to read my mind," James ordered, and Lily did... try.

But she felt silly doing it -- nothing happened. She could only hear her own thoughts: _Yes!_

"That's that," she said. "It's gone."

"Yeah, and you looked a bit daft trying it," James said through his laughter.

"James!" Lily exclaimed. "After I saved your life?"

"I could've got out of it myself."

"Oh, I'm convinced. Why weren't you acting so sure of yourself before?"

At this James grew uneasy. "What do you mean?"

"You were thinking--"

"OK, Lily, that's really none of your--"

"James, this was during the time that _you_ had made _everything_ my business! I had to stay away from adults as much as possible in case they were thinking something I wouldn't want to hear! I was forced to hear Albus's boring thoughts! I heard you thinking too... someone named Allison? Anyway, you made that all happen, and I've got a right to know why you think Teddy thinks of you as a plaything!"

James groaned, then sighed. "Fine. Just... fine. The thing is that... there's this girl Allison Chang. I..."

"You fancy her," Lily decided, smiling. "Ooh, Chang -- is she the daughter of Cho Chang? Mummy told me about Cho, Dad once had a date with her... But she had this disastrous relationship with a Muggle. I suppose that would be why she would have her mother's last name..."

"_Anyway_," James pressed on, blushing, "Teddy told me he knew a way I could be sure if she liked me back... But then I lost my nerve and never used it. Then I wondered if maybe he'd used me... and then I kind of just continued thinking it. He was spending a lot of time with Victoire..."

"Oh, about that," Lily chimed in, giggling. "They're engaged. They just haven't told anyone yet, because Victoire's only just graduated from Hogwarts."

"_What_?" James gaped at her.

"It's true. And James... I think that's really why you suppose he's been ignoring you. He's just preoccupied with his upcoming" -- Lily couldn't hide her snigger here -- "marriage. It's hilarious; I really can't imagine Teddy married. But he'll truly be part of the family soon -- we'll really be related!" She grinned, and James grinned back, a little hesitantly.

"So he's... he hasn't got sick of me?"

"Not yet," Lily teased. "But I'm certain it's only a matter of time. No, James, I'm only joking," she assured him on his apprehensive look, "because... well, remember, when we were at his house, how I could hear Teddy's thoughts completely? I mean... nothing was hidden? Well, when I mentioned your name all he could think about was how fun you were, and how you always have a good time together."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" Lily asked.

"You've got reason to," James grumbled.

"That I have," Lily agreed, though still cheerful and happy. They situation they had just been through had, in fact, made them closer, and Lily's little excursions into James's mind had helped her grow more familiar with the way his mind worked -- not to mention been very entertaining! This time, if she had been asked, she would have been able to say with a straight face that they truly were bonding.

Well, maybe. She still took quite a bit of pleasure out of teasing him. "So, about this Allison..."

"Oh, forget her," James replied. "She's not bad-looking, and I know her family's having problems, but still, she cries so much..."

"Well, of course, if she's got to be the object of _your_ affections..."

"For your information, I am way too good for her."

"Sure, if you needed _mind control_ to get her to like you..."

And at that moment and beyond, Lily Luna Potter felt truly content with life. She felt no want of her mind-reading ability back, no loneliness from being neglected by her brother, and she even -- for the moment, at least -- felt that maybe she could wait to get to Hogwarts to try magic again.

**

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Author's Note:

Well, there you go – my first chapter Harry Potter story! I really wanted to write an innocent, sweet, young story, and mind-reading really intrigues me (I think it would be _hilarious_ to read minds… even if Edward finds human minds dull, I would love it!), so this with my fascination of the second generation – especially Lily Luna Potter (she reminds me of Ginny) – equals this story.

It didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but what matters is what _you_ think… If I had mind control, the first thing I would do is "convince" everyone who read it to leave a review! So save me the trouble, and please tell me what you thought!

–**melissaeverlasting (Melissa)**

melissaeverlasting AT yahoo DOT com


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